Page 2 - Sonoma County Gazette December 2017

Dear Readers,
I’m putting All Fired Up’s ad to my left because Jim Lerum does CHIMNEY CLEANING. I can’t tell you how important that is for people who burn wood products for heat. I love wood heat. It’s dry, it comes from a renewable resource, it’s clean if you burn a hot fire and own an EPA Certified stove. And, it’s a lot less expensive than propane and electricity. Natural Gas is inexpensive, but
the cost to our environment, and the lives of people who mine it, is incredibly expensive. And as you witnessed in videos of recent ires, gas running through pipes in streets and houses creates a serious fuel issue when flames get out-of- hand. There are assets and liabilities for everything.
A friend of mine told the story of giving a low-income single mother two cords of wood to help her keep her breezy river cabin warm for herself and her 6-year-old child. He thought he was doing her a favor. When her chimney caught on fire because it hadn’t been cleaned, the whole house burned down. So much for the gift - which burned right along with the house!
We are especially sensitive to fires after THE BIG ONE that just passed. Watching new plants sprout from charred earth lets us know that the earth does a fine job of repairing itself. We try to not create damage in the first
place. One of the facts that our local fire department brought up at a post-fire community meeting was that wood fences we build for privacy between homes is one way fire travels quickly from one structure to another. The first thing firefighters do when they get to a home is tear down the fence. People think that’s for access - and yes, it is that, too - but the first reason is to keep fire from traveling along the fence to the house next door.
Another interesting fact came up...wood bark used for garden mulch burst into flames and the embers flew into the air under high winds, igniting wherever it landed. Who knew? Just another thing to think about when rebuilding. Yes, we have plenty of articles relating to the fire because we have to consider where we go from here. Your ideas are welcome.
And since we have seen how much those lovely things we own can just disappear in flames, our Small Shops of Sonoma County Holiday Guide is full of suggestions and resources for gifts that involve sharing time, learning new skills, bringing joy to someone with a new experience, etc. We need to help our local economy heal from lost business that put many small business owners at risk of losing what they have worked so hard to achieve,
Homeowners who lost their houses can relate.
This holiday season is a great time to look around and appreciate what we treasure. We’ll connect again in 2018!
2 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/17